Austerity and Other Obstacles to Recovery

Friday, February 8, 2013

“While it’s true that we will eventually need some combination of revenue increases and spending cuts to rein in the growth of U.S. government debt, now is very much not the time to act… Start with a basic point: Slashing government spending destroys jobs and causes the economy to shrink.”

Honeywell CEO David Cote acknowledged that spending cuts will harm the economy. Meanwhile the New York Times states, “With the economy teetering on a knife edge, it is clear that this is the worst moment to initiate an indiscriminate budget cut.”

This is an older article, but it does a good job of showing how disastrous austerity ahs been in Europe, and why we should pay attention. “Extreme austerity measures in Europe have been accompanied by slow to negative growth and worsening unemployment figures. Dramatic cuts to government spending, which for top euro zone countries averages 47% of GDP, has triggered layoffs, significantly less demand for goods and services, and shrinking economies.”

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The great American middle class wasn’t something that just happened – it was built brick by brick. It was built by soldiers returning from war and a government that repaid them by giving them a shot at college.

What the wealthy and well-connected figured out is that they have strength in numbers: the numbers of dollars they contribute to politicians. It’s time working and middle class Americans use our strength in numbers to reclaim the American Dream. We need a counterweight to the power of big money – and that’s the power of big numbers, the power of ordinary people who work for a living demanding to have our voices heard – from the workplace to Washington.